The Alliance
by The Arcan Blades
Summary: AU protected by the metanoid race called Heroes, DOMINO, central hub of the Upper Cities, had peace. Paladin has never been that much as a Hero, but when the Hero named Seraf appears, he finds himself drawn into the hazard he has brought with him.


Disclaimer: The Arcan Blades DO NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh. We DEARLY WISH WE DID. 

**Please remember**: This is an **AU. **If you see anything you don't like, feel free to hit the back button on the browser. Come on, people, let's be mature. Constructive criticism is welcome. Flames will be doused by fire extinguishers. And as always, READ AND REVIEW!

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* * *

The Hero Alliance**_

_A Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfic_

**Chapter One**

_Nightfall at the City_

* * *

The night was still.

In the view of the city, lights continued to twinkle on through the darkness—the even masses of white squares that filled out the dark shapes of hulking office buildings and skyscrapers, the dotting streetlights that outlined the extensive labyrinth of roads, and the multitude of neon lights and scrawls of the countless stores and advertisements that stayed alight—in spite of the lateness of the hour. A few straggling cars crawled by on the roads, headlights blinking through the shadowy giants.

But everything was surprisingly still, on late Saturday night.

Too still.

"What—_the—hell?_" a figure on the rooftop muttered, stunned, as he lowered the binoculars and his sunglasses fell into place to his eyes. "This _can't_ be for real." He turned to his companion, wide-eyed behind the shades. "Are we _actually_ going to have a quiet night?"

His companion was taller than he, and now laughed, uncrossing his arms to take the binoculars. "Sounds good to me…"

The first teen, wearing a dingy white and brown hooded jacket and cargo pants, now shoved his hands into his jacket pockets with a small snicker. "Well…it's not like we have much of a night life to get back to, you know. After doing this for so long."

"Ah, it's a curse…" the taller one wore a fitting army green sleeveless vest zipped up the whole way and black pants. He now crouched onto the edge and looked into the binoculars to do another once-over of the area—anything being _this_ quiet in this part of the Upper-Cities had to have a catch somehow.

He peered through the binoculars with a smile. "Looks pretty quiet. Almost unnervingly quiet." He glanced to him. "Sense anything?"

"Hmm…" the hooded one frowned only slightly. "No. I don't… But at the same time, I _am_ sensing something."

"What do you mean?" the taller one glanced to him.

The hooded one shoved his hands further into the pockets, his breath issuing in a thin cloud. "It's quiet. But it's the quiet that's making me nervous. It's like…this is _bad_. It shouldn't be _this _quiet."

The taller one then rose and turned to him. "Well if you feel that way, then I suppose we have no choice but to stay."

The hooded one was quiet, the wind blowing at his hood strings. He then slowly shook his head and let out a shaky breath. "Nah… Maybe it's just because I'm not used to having a quiet night. We haven't had one in a long time. Let's go." He turned away.

"If you say so," shrugged the taller one, following him as they walked down the rooftop.

It happened the instant they'd turned, and both sensed it at the same time. Behind them, from beyond the edge of the rooftop, a white burst soared upwards in a flurry of wings, red and white energy that cracked out and dissipated into the air. It was like a falling star in reverse, rising instead from the ground.

Both of them turned around with light reflecting off their shades, mouths open in shock, right before the swirling mass of white, red and feathers imploded and threw itself onto the rooftop, knocking them both off their feet. The cement cracked under the force of impact, and both boys scrambled away from the impact point before staring, stunned, at what they saw.

It turned out to be two people. One of them was a huge figure, swathed in red and black, dirty silver hair flying back in the wind. His face was covered with mark of solid gold, covering the top half of his face, and it was feathered in black, making him look like a huge bird of prey. He had black wings and had claws, with which he tore at the figure below.

"Aah—a little help?!" the figure below choked. The second one was a lithe, rather delicate-looking thing, whose hands and wrists obviously belied the strength he had to hold that monster back. He was swathed in a white sleeveless top, gloves to his elbows, with knee-high white boots gilded in gold. His wings were white, and they were getting squashed as he was pressed to the ground. His face was covered with a mask as well.

The ground split beneath them, threatening to break. The two boys on the roof sprang into action. The hooded one leapt first, smashing into the black figure with a vicious snarl. "Get off!!"

"Come on!" the taller one now hauled the boy on the ground away. The figure in black was furious, great black cape swirling into the wind, and flung the hooded boy off him with merciless strength.

"This isn't your concern," the black-swathed figure growled, his voice reverberating with marked power.

"It _is_ our concern since he asked for our help!" the tall figure snapped, fists moved to stance, as the white-clothed boy got to his feet, wincing. The gold-masked figure snorted and said, "…that runt's never really been able to stand on his own…"

The hooded figure now growled as he raised his fists, looking incredibly angry, "Get him Guardsman."

Without warning, the taller boy launched himself off the ground and right at the dark being. "Wait!!" cried the boy in white.

The black figure suddenly swept out his arm and there was a flash of black and red energy that slammed into the vested boy, sending him flying back. However, he did not fall on his back this time and instead rolled with the hit and was on his feet the next instant, fists raised. He slammed them together and there was a shockwave of great power from his hands that blasted to the man in black—but the blast rebounded off an invisible barrier.

"What…?" the hooded boy stared.

"What do you know…" the man muttered, snickering. "The Guardsman indeed…" he turned to the hooded boy. "And you must be the Watcher. I didn't think this side of the Upper Cities has such…interesting defenders."

"Who the _hell_ do you think you are?" the hooded boy, the Watcher, now demanded. "And you better tell us now, or else—"

"Or else _what_?" the voice rose ominously and the man seemed to grow taller, shadows from his cape rising with him as they glowered down at the hooded teen.

But Watcher never backed down from anyone—and he certainly wasn't going to back down from some lunatic in a mask and cape invading _his_ territory. "Or else I'll knock your ass down—that's what!" and with that, he suddenly raced to him in sudden speed that he couldn't have been credit for, just looking at him, and with his powerful momentum, sent a powerful punch right at the barrier.

There was a crack of golden light that came with the punch and for a moment, the red barricade fluctuated. But it did not give. The man, however, was surprised. Then he glared as the Watcher and Guardsman now moved together, the white-clothed boy with them. He slowly smirked.

"Hmm…this looks interesting." He grinned at the boy. "Very well then, runt. This ends for now. Just killing you and these two would be so boring and I've waited too many years to just end it so…unceremoniously. I'll give you time to gather up a few more pals so you can at _least_ make it worth my time."

His manic laughter echoing in all directions. He suddenly rose up off the roof, beating his great black wings. There was a deafening scream of wind that whirled around them. The billowing black cape engulfed the man and in a whirl of rippling cloth, feathers and red sparks of intense power—he vanished into the night, as though he was never there.

The wind died instantly, and the three lowered their arms, looking up. They stared up at where the man vanished for a moment, before Watcher finally deigned to speak. "Who the _hell_ was that?!"

The white-winged boy now lowered his eyes, looking upset. "…the Raider."

Both teens now looked at him. Watcher now frowned, striding up to him. "How do you know him? And just who the hell are you two and you're both here and—unless I'm missing my guess—about to create mayhem?!"

Guardsman grabbed him back. "Hey—hey! Come on." He gave him a look, and the Watcher frowned. He jerked his arm away, but no longer advanced on the boy in white. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "Well?"

The boy looked up, and it was only then they got a good look at him. Besides being clothed completely in white, he also had a mask that was sculpted of pure ivory and with white-gold patters somehow hammered smoothly into it, with white feathers to match his wings. They waved—living.

Guardsman blinked at him and motion to the wings. "They're real?"

"Yes…" he nodded, shifting uncomfortable. As he did, the wings fluttered slightly and rested again. They drooped to the ground in long white feathers.

"So you're a metanoid," said Watcher, staring at him.

The boy in white nodded. "Yes." He suddenly shook his head. "I'm sorry—you're Guardsman and Watcher, Heroes of the Central Area, right? I'm sorry—I didn't mean to bring my trouble into your territory. You must have enough to do here. They call me Seraf."

"_The_ Seraf?" Watcher uncrossed his arms, surprised. "From the North-West End?"

The Upper Cities, what the combine of eight urban areas were called, were divided into eight prefectures. Each prefecture, it was said, had their own Heroes who looked after the area and fought outlaws and villains as well as prevented casualties from natural catastrophes. Guardsman and Watcher were Heroes of the Central Area—the worst of the zones in the Upper Cities. With each prefecture fitted against each other like pizza slices, the Central Area—coded DOMINO by the administration—was a perimeter where a lot of mayhem converges, overlapping from one prefecture to another in this center point. It was not a wonder that Guardsman and Watcher almost never had a night off.

There were not that many Heroes, to most people's knowledge, Guardsman and Watcher's included, and so taking care of each prefecture was a hassle enough, and usually, Heroes from different places hardly ever meet. This was thought to be a good thing, as they might get underfoot of each other. They do, however, hear of each other, and the places they protect. And they had definitely heard of this Hero.

Seraf was the only one of two Heroes in the North-West End prefecture, and he was only glimpsed from time to time by civilians. It was the villains who usually saw him—and usually, not until it's too late. He was rumored to be rather powerful—a Class A power Hero. And frankly, he should be strong, for someone who had to look after the North-West End, where the Necro-Denizens were supposed to reside.

No offense to him, but Watcher actually expected someone of that repertoire to be less…delicate-looking. Neither Hero pointed that out, however.

Now, Seraf nodded, and said, "Yes. I know—I shouldn't be here. But…I'm afraid I had no choice."

"Is this about that weirdo in the cape?" Guardsman asked. "Who the hell _was_ he again? Raider?"

Shivering slightly, the wings wrapped around a little over their owner a bit more. "Yeah… When I heard he was heading for DOMINO, I had to follow him. I'd actually been fighting him for a long time now, at the North-West, trying to figure out exactly what he was up to. Then I heard he was suddenly coming here—he couldn't be up to anything good."

"Clearly," Watcher glared at the direction the supervillain had gone off to. "Is he a Necro-Denizen? There are a lot of them at your end, yeah?"

Sighing, Seraf looked rather anxious. "He's actually one of their Grand Generals."

"No wonder…" Watcher groaned and Guardsman smacked his hand to his forehead in disbelief. "Geez… and for _once_ I thought we were going to have a quiet night!"

"The calm before the storm…" Guardsman sighed.

Seraf fidgeted again. "As I said… I'm sorry." Then he looked up, eyes intense, penetrating from the mask. "I assure you—I brought this trouble with me, I'll be sure to finish it myself."

"Eh…" Guardsman scratched his head, turning away. "You're here anyway. You're in our territory—so we're going to be involved with this whether you like it or not. You already asked for help awhile ago."

There was no answer. The white-winged Hero now lowered his gaze. After a long pause, he said, "…no matter what I do…I can't seem to beat him. Apparently I'm…not yet strong enough." He looked up at them. "So…whatever aid you might give me…will be appreciated."

_This is Seraf…?_ Watcher stared at him. _He doesn't **act** like a Class A. _He shrugged. "Right then. Whatever… Uh—d'you know where that lunatic is now?"

"I wish I did," Seraf answered. "But you can be sure he'll pull back for tonight. Though he's powerful, his energy's been spent fighting me earlier. And in a few hours, it will be dawn. He's strongest at night, slightly more vulnerable at day. I don't think he'll be around."

"Then tomorrow night," said Guardsman, nodding. "Meet with us. Then we'll track your friend down. Find out what you can in the day, and we'll do the same, all right?"

"Thank you, Guardsman, Watcher…" Seraf nodded solemnly once before he took a step back, stretching out his wings preparatory to flight. Those wings had to be twelve feet in wingspan at the very least. In a single beat, he soared into the air like a white starburst and winged away into the darkness.

The two DOMINO Heroes watched him vanish, and then abruptly, Watcher turned to Guardsman and pulled off his sunglasses, pushing back his hood. A crop of blond hair waved in the wind and brown eyes glared. "I swear, as if we didn't have things to worry about with that other dude running around…"

The taller boy laughed and pulled of his sunglasses as well, grinning at his friend. "Can't do much about that, Jou. Things happen."

"I guess…" the blond looked incredibly discomforted by the change of events that started out with such a promising quiet night. "Man… a Grand General Necro…"

Suddenly his friend grinned. "D'you know they say that if you say that and the Necro's name three times, you actually summon him and give him the right to take your soul?"

This instantly silenced the blond boy, who stared up at him, wide eyed in stunned shock. After a moment's awful pause, he said, "…you're pulling my leg, aren't you, Honda? You better be!"

"What—you've only said it _once_ so far!" his friend laughed as he leapt down to the metal steps of the building's fire escape. The blond growled and went after him. "S'not funny…"

* * *

From his spectacular vantage point atop the famous Dragon's Spire, a pair of blue eyes looked into the night with an intense glow to them. He frowned deeply as he surveyed the nightscape.

He had seen a flash of white earlier—much too bright, as it was seen clear across DOMINO, for any searchlight—but the white was swallowed up too easily by a flash of black and red. Something was going on out there. He felt strong presences, one of them as strong as he, the other was possibly was strong if not stronger.

Surely, the two miscreant Heroes in the city couldn't have managed such a thing. He'd seen long ago the limits of their power, and they were not as strong as he. But the two new ones…were something to worry about.

He spoke without looking up. "Noa."

There was a ripple behind him as a massive screen flashed. "Yes?" asked a child's voice.

"Those power fluctuations ten minutes ago. Have you gotten the data on them?"

There was another ripple of light from the screen. The child's voice answered, "Neither one in signature-match to any of the ones known in our database. It appears that the powers are not of Guardsman or Watcher's, but neither is it among any of the other Heroes we've encountered."

"So it's someone we'd never met, is that it?"

"It would appear that way."

Slowly, a smirk came to his lips. "Then tomorrow night…it would only proper that we meet them."

* * *

That's it for now! The Heroes of DOMINO meet the Raider for the first time and are by no means happy. Who is the blue-eyed wonder in the Dragon's Spire (as if we already didn't know)? Who is Seraf (as if we didn't know either)? And moreover--Honda and Jou meet up with some other familiar faces!

Please review!


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